Homerun
by Chandalier
Summary: Madoka has finally found something she's good at. Sayaka searches for love. Mami tries to find purpose. Kyoko attempts to get her life back on track. And Homura just wants to turn back time. What could possibly go wrong? / When Madoka Magica meets baseball, AU. Somewhat of an affectionate parody.
1. Prologue

This story is a collaboration by two people (Psyn and Allaeyr). As the title suggests, it's going to be about baseball.

* * *

Prologue

Mitakihara Town had never seen such rainy weather. Only earlier that day, the skies had been clear and the sun was shining, but just as the bell signalling the end of school had rung, the black clouds had appeared almost out of nowhere and the storm had begun. In only a few minutes, deep puddles had already formed on the streets.

Madoka ran down the street, giggling, and jumping in puddles, getting herself, and the girl she was pulling along, even more soaked. The two seemed oblivious to the chaos around them, as other students rushed to get home before the downpour worsened.

"Um," Homura mumbled, trying to wipe her glasses clear of rain with her pinafore. "Your parents are expecting us."

"It's fine," laughed Madoka. "My parents won't mind if we're wet and we never get weather like this!" She pounced into another puddle, splashing water everywhere. She wasn't wearing a jacket or boots, but she didn't seem to mind the fact that she was drenched.

"But." Homura fidgeted. "We're not wearing clothes suited to the weather. We'll probably get sick."

Madoka laughed again. That was so Homura. Always the worrier. Always speaking like she was an adult.

"Lighten up," she said. But Homura did have a point. And Madoka had something she wanted to give her anyways. Playing could wait.

"Okay then, let's go," she finally announced. She jumped into one more puddle for good measure, then grabbed Homura's hand and began dragging her down the street.

...

Madoka's house was warm. Homura hadn't noticed she was quite so cold before. But now she realized that the school uniform was really not designed for rain, and that half of her hair, somehow having lost its braid tie, was loose, and plastered, freezing wet, to her back. Her vision was almost completely obscured; she'd given up trying to keep her glasses dry, and now they were starting to fog up.

Madoka's parents were currently greeting her cheerfully, and Homura felt a tightening in her throat.

Madoka, noticing Homura's shivers, abruptly stopped talking to her mom and dad, and turned to Homura, pulling her from her cowering position in the doorway, and towards her room. "I can get a change of clothes for you. And there's something I want to give you."

"It's fine…" Homura tried brushing off the offer, but Madoka was insistent so she relented with a sigh – although she couldn't help but give a small smile at her friend's fussing.

Madoka ushered Homura into her room, then immediately raced to her closet to search for new sets of clothes for them both. Homura stood awkwardly near the doorway, hoping her dripping hair wasn't making too much of a mess on the floor. It was going to take a while for it to dry completely, and its dampness was sending chills through her back.

It wasn't long before Madoka spun around, holding out some clothes for Homura. "Here, you can put these on while I wrap your present."

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Homura inquired softly, thinking more about drying her hair and glasses than privacy.

"Not at all," Madoka chirped.

She waited until Homura was well out of her room before spinning around and looking frantically for wrapping paper.

She didn't have any. She'd been meaning to get some, but apparently she'd forgotten, and now it was too late. Homura would be out of the bathroom soon.

"Oh noo."

There was only one thing to do. Madoka squared her shoulders and marched toward her desk. She grabbed the tissue box there, and pulled one of the tissues out.

She could hear the bathroom door opening, so hurriedly, in one swift motion, Madoka pulled one of her hair ribbons off, and placed it in the middle of the tissue.

And then Homura was back, peeking timidly around the side of the door. Madoka turned around, hiding the ribbon behind herself.

"Come in, Homura," she said invitingly.

Homura stepped lightly into the room. She'd managed to pat her hair mostly dry and, after a failed attempt at trying to put it into one long braid, she'd decided to let it hang loose. Even while wet, it split oddly near her lower back, as if shaped by the braids she normally wore. Instantly she could tell that Madoka was hiding something, from the way she was standing and bouncing on the spot, and because half her hair was loose, but she decided to play along and let Madoka talk.

Now it was Madoka's turn to be slightly awkward, as she tried to think of something to tell her that seemed right. Then she decided to just say what she had been meaning to say. This was Homura after all. To make a little more time, she gestured at the bed, indicating that they should sit down there.

"Okay, um… I know we haven't been friends for long," said Madoka, speaking rapidly in an effort to get out everything she wanted to say, "but I already feel like I know you really well, and, um, you're probably the best friend I've ever had. You're really nice and you have a nice voice and your name is really cool. I think so, even if you don't. So I noticed you've been sad recently, so I asked Mom and she said, 'What makes you happy, Madoka?' and I thought, 'getting presents makes me happy', but I didn't know what to get you and I don't have much money, so I decided to give you something that means a lot to me." With that, she took the tissue-wrapped ribbon out from behind her back and held it out towards Homura, a huge smile plastered on her face at the blush that had been spreading across her friend's face as she spoke. "I hope it means a lot to you too." She felt herself flushing as well, wondering whether Homura would accept what she said, and wouldn't get mad that she hadn't bought her something nicer.

"Oh," Homura said. And flung her arms around Madoka.

Madoka squeaked in surprise, and returned the hug hesitantly, placing the present on the bed beside them. Then she became aware of the sound of sniffling, close to her ear, and realized her shoulder was getting wet.

Homura must have hated the present! Madoka felt like crying too.

"I'm really sorry. Did you want something new?" Madoka asked.

"No…" Homura mumbled. "This is the best present anyone has ever given me."

And it was. Homura always got new things. The latest designer clothes, expensive toys, and jewelry, the likes of which, not even the oldest girls at school had. But they never meant anything special. No thought was put into it, besides wanting to keep her out of the way. No one had ever given her something that they'd actually owned and loved.

"Really?" Madoka brightened, her mood doing a complete one-eighty.

Homura nodded, and pulled away from the hug, removing her glasses so she could wipe her eyes. "Yeah."

"Yay! I'm glad. That's great. This ribbon should be a symbol of our friendship. Like a friendship bracelet. Here, let me put it on."

Homura turned around obligingly, letting Madoka braid the ribbon into her hair. She didn't comment on Madoka's braiding skills. She meant well, but Homura resolved to fix it the next chance she got – out of Madoka's sight.

"Done!" Madoka said. "Now we have matching ribbons. I'll wear mine every day, and you wear yours every day. That way we can be friends forever!"

"Okay." Homura nodded shyly.

And they were. For a month.

One day, Homura didn't come to school. And she didn't the next day, or the next.

Madoka, thinking that she probably had a really bad cold, decided to visit her after she'd been missing a week. But when she went to her house and knocked on the door, nobody answered. Not the man in the suit, or the woman that always wore bright dresses. Not Homura.

Homura was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_9 years later…_

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Madoka refused to acknowledge a reality where she was awake at six A.M. during the summer.

But aside from her being conscious at a time when she would generally be fast asleep, there was something else wrong. Something about the dream she'd just had gave her an odd sensation that refused to let her sink back into blissful slumber.

She couldn't remember exactly what the dream had been about, only that it had left her with a strange feeling of sadness and regret. She had the sense of a face, obscured by the haze that dreams leave on your ability to remember things, surrounded by long dark hair, and a small hand held clasped in hers.

And…

But now it was slipping away, and Madoka couldn't recall exactly why she was keeping herself awake so early in the morning, especially since she had things to do that day.

…

The next time Madoka woke up was at a more reasonable time.

She could hear the sound of voices and cutlery coming from the general direction of the kitchen. She wasn't keen on getting out of bed, but the smell of frying eggs was too tempting to ignore, and she had somewhere she needed to be soon.

In a daze, Madoka got up and wandered down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, dear," her mother greeted, from where she was seated at the table, sipping coffee and checking her makeup with a pocket mirror.

"Morning!" echoed Tatsuya, banging his spoon against his highchair.

"Good morning, everyone," said Madoka, taking a seat as her mother reached across the table to calm Tatsuya down.

Her dad came over, carrying a plate of eggs and toast. "Here you go, honey. You'd better eat quickly, so you're not late. Do you want two eggs or one?"

"Just one, please," said Madoka, glancing at the clock. It really was getting late.

Her dad slid an egg onto her plate along with a piece of toast then went on to serve Tatsuya.

She ate in silence, listening to her parents' quiet conversation about something on the news.

Madoka scooped the last bit of egg into her mouth then stood up and brought her dishes to the sink. As she was leaving the kitchen, her father called after her, "Hey, Madoka, once you're done getting ready, I'll drive you to Hitomi's, if you want. I don't have anything planned for today. But you'll have to put up with Tatsuya."

"Okay," said Madoka, stopping to wave at her mom as she left for work, before heading upstairs again.

…

Every time Madoka saw Hitomi's house, she was blown away by how big it was. And there were only three people living in it. Madoka always felt a little intimidated ringing the doorbell, hoping it would be Hitomi who answered.

This time she hesitated only a moment, but when the door opened, it wasn't Hitomi. The girl who answered did not have long, green curls or an impossibly straight posture, but short, blue hair and a bright smile.

"About time you got here," Sayaka said, opening the door wider and gesturing for Madoka to come inside.

"I'm not late," Madoka protested as she stepped inside.

"I never said you were," said Sayaka, and laughed at Madoka's expression. "C'mon, Hitomi's waiting upstairs."

They made their way slowly up the staircase, Madoka having some trouble with her books, and to Hitomi's room, chatting about what they had been doing over the past few days.

Sayaka entered the room first. "Guess who finally decided to show up."

"Sayaka, stop it," Madoka said, blushing, then turned to Hitomi. "Hi."

"Hello, Madoka," Hitomi said, smiling softly. "And Sayaka, you only just got here yourself."

Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, I think whoever shows up last should do all the homework."

"What!?" squawked Madoka, shoving Sayaka with her free hand, and would have gone on if Hitomi hadn't interrupted.

"Sayaka, this is a study group. That means that one person can't do all the work. Besides, I think this will benefit you the most."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Sayaka said, still fending off Madoka while trying to keep a grin from her face.

Hitomi just laughed. "I think we should get to work now."

"Fine," Sayaka grumbled, untangling herself from Madoka. As the two headed over to where Hitomi was seated, cross-legged on the floor, she whispered in her friend's ear, "Seriously, what did she mean by that?"

Madoka giggled at her annoyance as she dumped her books next to her friends'. "Calm down. I'm sure she didn't mean anything serious by it."

"So what do you still have to work on, Madoka?" asked Hitomi once they were both settled.

"Well, I finished most of my Science and History. And English. Everything, really, except Math. But I did try. I just can't remember all the formulas. How about you two?"

Instantly, Sayaka's face reddened and she laughed awkwardly. "Um… well…"

"I think I've pretty much finished everything," Hitomi said, flipping through her notebook. "I just need to check it over."

Madoka sighed enviously. "Of course."

"Madoka, how could you betray me like this," Sayaka groaned. "I thought I could have at least relied on you to have done less homework than me."

"That would be hard to do," Hitomi commented.

"Quiet, you in the peanut gallery," Sayaka said, glaring at her.

"I thought we made a resolution to not put off our homework this year, though," Madoka said, looking through Sayaka's books. "Didn't you do any of it?"

"I did some of my Science. And you know I never follow through on resolutions like that."

"How much is 'some'? The first page?" asked Madoka, but Sayaka snatched her book back before she could pry any further.

Hitomi coughed pointedly. "Um, if you two are done, I think we should probably start doing something now."

Madoka opened one of her books with a sheepish expression. "Um… Hitomi, could you help me with this math?"

"Me too," muttered Sayaka grudgingly. "And, uh… with everything else."

For a time, they focused all their attention on their work.

Finally, Sayaka stood up and stretched. "Alright, I can't do this anymore," she declared. "I need to do something else."

Hitomi sighed. "Sayaka, we've only been working for half an hour."

"That's half an hour too long. It's summer!"

"It's the _last_ day of summer. And you still need to finish most of your homework."

"We should go to the park instead," said Sayaka. "There will always be more time to do homework later. Like tomorrow."

"It's due tomorrow," Hitomi pointed out, as Madoka chimed in sweetly, "The baseball park?"

Sayaka flushed. "I just want to get outside. It's too stuffy in here."

Madoka giggled. "Yeah, I could use a break too. Let's go watch Kyosuke play baseball."

"That's not what I meant!" Sayaka spluttered, glaring at Madoka.

Hitomi sighed again as she set her books to the side. "I guess I can't change your minds. Besides, I'm not the one who has to finish all my homework," she added, giving Sayaka a meaningful glance. She got to her feet, smoothed her skirt, then headed towards the doorway.

Sayaka looked at Madoka. "Is it just me, or did she give in too easily?"

Madoka shrugged as Hitomi called back, "Hurry up, you two."

…

The Mitakihara baseball park was near the outskirts of the city, a two-minute walk away from Hitomi's house, and a ten-minute one from Mitakihara Middle School. If you stood on second base, you could see the city skyline – large dark buildings cutting a jagged frame out of the sky. The stands faced inward towards the diamond. If not for the occasional honk of cars and the faint smell of smog, spectators could almost believe that the city didn't exist. The ongoing game became their only reality.

Madoka knew why Sayaka liked going there so often.

"Psst, Kyosuke," Sayaka hissed.

The city's senior boys' team, the Mitakihara Warlocks, was having its first practice of the season, and the boys were playing a mock game of baseball. Kyosuke was in outfield, close enough so that the girls could talk to him without interfering in the game.

"Oh, hey, Sayaka," said Kyosuke, giving them a small wave, but keeping his eyes on the current batter. "Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now. If QB catches me talking to you, I'm dead."

"I was under the impression that this was a private practice, not a game," said a heavily accented voice from behind the girls.

Madoka jumped and spun around, squeaking in surprise. Her friends did the same.

The man standing in front of them was young and clearly not Japanese. He had white-blonde hair, and though he wore a pleasant smile, Madoka got the feeling that he was not as happy as the expression suggested. He was also wearing a jersey that said 'COACH' on it.

Hitomi regained her composure first. "Our apologies, sir. We'll leave immediately."

The man glanced at Kyosuke, who had turned his head in the opposite direction, and then looked back to the girls. "Well, as long as you're not distracting anyone, I suppose it's fine. Actually," he added, after a pause. "I've seen you girls around here before. By now, you must know quite a lot about baseball. There are a few openings we're looking to fill on the senior girls' team, and we're looking for people who are genuinely interested in baseball. The team is having a practice tomorrow at five, and if you're interested in joining, perhaps you'd be willing to attend."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I wouldn't make most practices," said Hitomi. "I have many other extracurricular activities, so I wouldn't have the time to devote myself to a team sport in the way you probably want."

"That's too bad. I'm sure you would make a valuable addition to the team. Are you two interested at all?" he said, directing the last bit at Madoka and Sayaka.

"Um…" Madoka started shyly.

"Could be fun," Sayaka said, nudging Madoka.

"So you'll come? Great. My name is Quinton Bane, and I coach both senior teams. I'm looking forward to seeing you at practice." With that, he gave a nod, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Madoka stared after him confusedly. "What just happened? Did we agree to that?"

"Apparently," said Hitomi.

"But I don't know anything about baseball!" cried Madoka. "I don't think I'm ready to join a team."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You don't _have_ to join," Hitomi said comfortingly. "Come on, let's walk down to Starbucks and get something. A warm drink will calm you down."

"Alright," Madoka said.

"But we didn't even watch any of the practice," Sayaka protested, with a wistful glance towards the field.

"I thought you just wanted some fresh air," Hitomi said. "Whether we watch baseball or go to Starbucks – it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Well I'm up for some coffee," said Madoka, suddenly cheerful again.

Sayaka's shoulders visibly slumped. "Fine."

…

After Starbucks, they went to the mall to get a look at the last of the summer sales on clothes. Then they went to an arcade, where Sayaka won almost every multiplayer game against Madoka.

On their way out of the arcade, Madoka nearly walked straight into a girl with long dark hair passing by the doorway.

"Sorry!" Madoka said, as the other girl mumbled a similar apology.

At the sound of Madoka's voice, the girl looked up sharply and stared. Madoka stared back. Something was…

"Um, Madoka," said Sayaka from behind her, breaking Madoka out of her concentration. "You're sort of blocking the door. Some people would actually like to leave the arcade. What's holding you up?"

"Sorry," Madoka said, looking back at Sayaka and moving out of the way.

"What was that about?" Hitomi asked, emerging after Sayaka.

"Oh, I just–" Madoka began, looking around. But the dark-haired girl had vanished.

"Okay, Madoka, I think it's time for you to get some rest," joked Sayaka, but then grew serious. "Wait, what time is it?"

"Well, the sun has almost set, so it's probably pretty late," said Hitomi. "Why?"

"Oh no," Sayaka gasped. "I still have to finish my homework!"

* * *

If anyone didn't get it, Madoka and Homura were actually little kids in the prologue. We thought we'd mention this because one of our friends thought they were the same age as they were in the anime. Just to clear that up.

Also, sorry the chapters are so short. We'll try and make them longer in the future. This is just sort of a filler, introductory chapter. Next chapter will be much more dramatic...hopefully.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Madoka waited at the usual meet-up spot a block before the school. Hitomi had already left in a hurry five minutes earlier, not willing to be late for class, but Sayaka had yet to arrive which was the reason why Madoka was still waiting.

She glanced at her watch. There was only two minutes left until class started. And it was usually her who was late, not Sayaka.

"Where is she?" Madoka said in a panic.

It wasn't completely unlike Sayaka to skip school, but she wasn't the sort of person to miss the first day. Madoka hoped she wasn't sick.

But she couldn't wait any longer. The bell was about to ring, and if she didn't leave soon she would be the late one, so she turned and ran in the direction of the school.

…

Sayaka didn't turn up during first period, spouting excuses at the teacher about how her toaster broke, or that her alarm clock had mysteriously vanished the night before, like Madoka expected her to. She also didn't arrive during second period. At that point Madoka was starting to get really worried. What sort of sickness could come so suddenly and so strongly?

She was starting to imagine scenarios where Sayaka was lying still in a hospital bed, horribly sick, or injured. Maybe she'd been hit by a car. Maybe she was in a coma. Maybe she was dead!

Thankfully, Madoka's worries were proven wrong. Sayaka showed up at lunch. She looked tired, but otherwise fine.

"Where were you?" Madoka almost shrieked.

"Calm down, Madoka. I just slept in a little later than normal," Sayaka said.

"'_A little'_?"

Sayaka sighed. "I kinda stayed up all night finishing my homework."

"That's what you get for procrastinating," said Hitomi, who had come up behind them.

"Shut up," Sayaka moaned. "It's already bad enough that I missed the first half of school. Miss Saotome is gonna kill me. And I keep having to squint because the light is hurting my eyes. I don't need you telling me things I already know."

Hitomi was opening her mouth, looking like she was about to voice a retort, but she was interrupted.

"Hey Sayaka," Kyosuke said, appearing from the same direction Hitomi had come from. "Hey Madoka, Hitomi." He turned to face Sayaka. "Where were you this morning? I didn't see you in class."

"Uh," Sayaka said. "Family emergency."

Madoka was going to say something, but Sayaka stepped on her foot. Viciously.

"Really?" Kyosuke asked sympathetically, ignorant of the silent exchange. "That sucks. Sorry."

"Yeah." Sayaka's smile looked forced. "So, anyways. How was baseball?"

"Don't you want to talk about it?"

"I have to go," Hitomi said suddenly.

Madoka looked over at her. She'd almost forgotten that her friend was there, she'd been so uncharacteristically silent.

"I'll see you next class." Hitomi continued, and walked away briskly.

"That was weird," Kyosuke said, looking after her. "Is she okay?"

"She's probably just going to study," Sayaka said dismissively.

"On the first day of school?"

"That's our Hitomi."

"Hm," Kyosuke said a little doubtfully, then brightened. "So, baseball. QB said that you two were going to join the girls' team."

"We're not necessarily joining…" Madoka trailed off as Sayaka interrupted her.

"Why do you guys call him QB?"

"I don't really know." Kyosuke laughed. "When I joined the team, people were already calling him that. He's been around for a really long time. Some people say he's immortal. And that he drinks the blood of innocents to keep himself young."

"What!" Madoka shouted.

"They're just urban legends. Nobody actually believes that stuff."

Madoka really didn't want to go to the practice now.

"That sounds awesome, even if it isn't true. Wow. Madoka why are you shivering like that? Don't be such a wimp. This is going to be so cool." Sayaka was the complete opposite of Madoka, bursting with excitement.

Kyosuke laughed again. "I knew you'd say that." He checked the clock on the wall. "Lunch is almost over. I should probably go now. Good luck with practice. Even if the rumours aren't true, QB is sort of a demon."

With those ominous words, he turned and walked away down the hallway.

"What did he mean by that?" Madoka asked.

"Eh," Sayaka shrugged. "He's probably just messing with us."

"I hope so."

…

This time, Madoka and Sayaka walked to Mitakihara Baseball Park without Hitomi.

The practice hadn't started yet, but a small group of girls had already gathered near home base, talking amongst themselves. QB was nowhere in sight.

"I don't know any of these girls," Madoka whispered to Sayaka.

"Me neither," Sayaka whispered back.

They stood there awkwardly, too shy to approach the crowd. Finally, a girl with blond curls looked over and saw them. She said something to the people she was talking with, and started walking towards Madoka and Sayaka.

"Hello there." She smiled nicely. "Are you two the ones QB was talking about?"

"Yeah," Sayaka said.

The girl nodded. "Welcome. Hm. I can tell from your uniforms that you go to Mitakihara Middle School. I go there too. I'm in tenth grade. My name is Mami Tomoe."

Madoka hadn't seen her around before, but Mami was in the grade above them, so that wasn't completely unlikely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Madoka Kaname, and this is Sayaka Miki."

"How about I introduce you to everyone that's here?"

She lead them around, giving a name to each girl standing in the group. "This is Oriko, and Kirika. They're rarely ever seen apart. And that's Sakura, the girl with short brown hair talking to Tomoyo. And Usagi is over there with Rei. And that's Amu. There's more people, but they've yet to arrive."

Madoka had been listening intently, but she was pretty sure that there had been one other girl when she'd first entered the park. She looked around and saw someone standing a little ways away from the group. The moment Madoka's eyes found the girl, she realized she was the girl she'd bumped into the day before, and that she was staring straight at her.

Uncomfortable, Madoka turned back to Mami. "Who's that?"

"What? Oh, that's Homura Akemi. She's a bit weird." Mami looked like she wanted to say more, but at that moment a whistle sounded.

"Alright everyone," QB said from behind them. "We've got a couple girls that are interested in joining, so I expect you'll be nice them. Today we'll start with five laps around the field."

There were some groans, but everyone started to run almost instantly.

Mami was about to leave, but QB stopped her. "Mami. I can trust you to take care of them this practice?"

"Of course, sir." Mami smiled brightly. "But what about the laps?"

"You can be excused for today. I want you to stick to Madoka and Sayaka like glue."

"Okay."

Madoka watched the runners. They were all really fast, and none of them looked tired, even though they were on their fourth lap. She didn't know if she'd be able to keep up with them if she ended up joining the team.

The girl Mami had called Homura was in the lead, so far that she was about to lap some of the slowest girls. Madoka stared at her, mouth half open. She was probably faster than most boys. She would probably be able to leave Kyosuke in her dust, and he was one of the best runners she knew.

As she was thinking that, Homura was finishing her run, looking as graceful and cool as she had when she'd begun. And she was looking at Madoka again. In fact, she was coming over.

QB, Sayaka, and Mami were having their own conversation, and had moved away while Madoka had been staring at Homura run, so there was no one to turn to for help. Madoka gulped and braced herself.

"Uh, hi," she said eventually, when Homura had just been standing nearby and staring at her for a minute straight.

"Why are you here?" Homura asked, almost as if Madoka hadn't spoken at all. Her voice was low and flat.

"Um," Madoka started.

"You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"What?" Madoka managed. She didn't understand how saying 'hi' had turned into this. Was it Homura's way of trying to scare new girls off? Mami _had _said that she was a bit weird.

"This team is not for everyone. You should think very carefully about joining."

"I wasn't really going to anyways," said Madoka.

By that time, most of the girls had returned from the run. QB was looking ready to blow his whistle again. Madoka hoped that that would mean the end of their conversation.

"Think about your family-" but Homura was interrupted before she could continue.

"Madoka," Mami said, clasping her hand on Madoka's shoulder. "I was wondering where you wandered off to. Come on."

QB got the players to throw and catch balls, run between bases, and, finally, practice batting and pitching.

For most of the drills, Mami stood beside Madoka and Sayaka and told them about it. But near the end Mami excused herself with, "I'm one of the best pitchers. QB will probably expect me to do this one."

They watched in silence for a while, before Sayaka said that she was going to go to the other side of the field. Apparently it would give her a better view, but Madoka thought she saw Kyosuke over there.

Still, she let Sayaka go without commenting. Unfortunately, that meant there was nobody left to protect her.

"You don't know what you're getting into," Homura murmured from behind her.

Madoka jumped and turned around. She could have sworn Homura had been standing in line to bat not two seconds ago. "Hi," she tried again. "Um, I'm not really sure what you're talking about, and I told you that I wasn't going to join."

Homura stared at her, this time like she was trying to confirm she was telling the truth. "Really?"

"Really," Madoka said seriously. She was beginning to get the feeling that Homura wasn't just messing with her.

"Good. I hope you continue to feel that way."

With that, Homura turned on her heels and walked away.

…

As Madoka and Sayaka walked home, they discussed the baseball practice.

"It was cool," Sayaka said. "I might seriously consider joining."

"I don't know. Everyone seemed pretty athletic. I don't think I'd fit in very well."

Sayaka frowned. "But they were all really nice. Especially Mami. She told me that she'd help teach us on the side to help catch up."

"Wow," said Madoka, but her mind was made up. "That's really nice of her. But I don't think I'm joining."

"That's too bad. It would be more fun if we were on the team together."

It would be, but Homura's words echoed in Madoka's ears. She wasn't going to join.


End file.
